Safety arrangement for railroad crossings



Dec, 25,1928.

G. E. JORDAN SAFETY ARRANGEMENT F011 RAILROAQCRO8SINQ$ Filed w 1, 192aPatented ea. 25, 1928.

GEORGE E. JORDAN, F PERRY, GEORGIA.

SAFETY ARRANGEMENT FOR RAILROAD CROSSINGS.

Application filed May 1, 1928.

This invention relates to safety arrangements for railroad crossings,and more articularly to devices of this character w rich are placed inthe roadway near the crossing so as to check the speed of oncomingvehicles and force the drivers thereof to give their attention to therailroad crossing.

It has been proposed to provide a ramp or hump structure across the pathof traffic ad- 1 jacent the railroad crossing so that the jolting of thevehicle passing over such obstruction will forcibly call the attentionof the driver to the proximity of the railroad crossing. The rampportions also serve the purpose of checking the speed of the vehicle sothat proper precautions can be taken.

However, such arrangements are for the purpose of controlling automobileor high speed traffic, and impose an unwarranted hardship uponhorse-drawn vehicles, the

speed of which is such that the ramp structure is unnecessary.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a deviceof this character with means whereby horse-drawn vehicles may passwithout interference from the ramp structure.

In order to preventreckless drivers from driving around the safety rampsheretofore proposed, they have been so arranged'that all traffic mustpass over the ramp before crossing the railroad. However, many emergencyconditions arisein which it is a great disadvantage not to be able todrive'around the ramp, as in the case of the passage of government motortransport equipment or troops.

It is therefore another object of the invention to provide a safety rampstructure with arrangements whereby authorized traflic may pass aroundthe ramp.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement wherebyautomobile traffic is forced to pass over the ramp in approaching acrossing, but is permitted to pass by the ramp in leaving the crossing.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an automatic one-waytraffic control device which will serve as a bar'to traffic in onedirection, but will allow passage of traffic in the other direction.

Other objects and features of novelty will be apparent from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a planview of a highway rail-= Serial No. 274,287.

road crossing showing the safety arrangements according to the presentinvention;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the railroad crcgssing as it appears tooncoming traffic; an

Figure 4 is a detail view of trafiic device.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a railroad crossing hasbeen illustrated, in which a highway 5 passes over railroad tracksincluding rails 6, 7, 8 and 9. This crossing has been provided withsafety arrangements according to the present invention, and a rampstructure indicated generally at 10 is placed in the highway in the pathof the right hand or approaching traliic, so as to substantially occupyonehalf of the width of the highway. This ramp may be of any desiredconstruction or material, so long as itfis of sufficient strength towithstand the trafiic loads. Concrete is very satisfactory for thispurpose.

I The ramp 10 is somewhat longer than the average vehicle and has asmoothly curved upper surface comprising a main incline 11, a lump 12, atrough 13 and a depression 14 formed by two smaller humps 15 and 16.

the one-way Beyond the hump 15 the ramp terminates in v a short incline1 An automobile passing over this strl'lcture will first ride up theincline 11 over the hump 12 into the trough 13. If the car approaches athighspeed, this arrangement will cause considerable olt to the vehicle,which will check its speed'and force the driver to give his attention tothe railroad crossing, and apply his brakes. However, if the carapproaches at proper speed, it can pass over with no discomfort. Thefront wheels riding over the first small hump 16 will tend to furthercheck the vehicle so that it will come to rest with its front wheelsinthe smaller trough 14. The trough 14 is spaced fromthe nearest rail ofthe railroad crossing a suflicicnt distance to allow adequate clearancefor the rolling stock, so that an automobile with its front wheelsresting in the trough 14 will be entirely safe.

When the crossing is clear the driver may release his brakes and drivethe front wheels of the car over the hump 15. The front wheels will thenride down the incline 1'? and the r-ear wheels at the same time ridedown into the trough 13, imparting sullicient momentum to the car toassist in carrying it over the humps and 16 and thus permit a. rapidget-a-way.

As shown in Fig. 3, hump 10 is constructed of two spaced portions 20 and21 having between them a clear channel 22, the bottom of which is thenormal roadway sur ace. This channel permits the passage of horse-drawnvehicles which have much greater road clearance than automobiles.

The highest hump 12 of the ramp 1() is of greater heightthan theclearance of the average automobile, so that if the driver attempts topass by allowing the automobile wheels to pass through the channel.crank cas-ee or other parts of the automobile will engage with the hump12, which will prevent its passage. However, with horse-drawn vehiclesthe horse may walk in the channel 22, with the wheels of one sidepassing through the channel. 22 and the wheels of the other side passingoutside of the ramp 10. In the case of a two-horse vehicle the secondhorse may walk outside of the ramp. A curb 25 is provided for each outeredge of the ramp 1() in order to prevent automobiles from slipping orskidding off the ramp.

In order to prevent reckless drivers from merely driving around theramp, the left hand side of the highway is provided with a swingingobstruction 26 comprising a flat member such as a board, of suiiicientheight to offer an obstruction to the passage of traftie, and extendingsubstantially across the entire left hand side of the roadway. The sideof the member 26 toward the oncoming traffic is painted with a warningsign as large and conspicuous as possible, as shown in Fig. 3, and apedestal 27 is preferably placed in the center of the roadway and.provided with. a warning sign 28 at the top.

The member 26 is hinged at its intersection with the highway as by meansof eyes 30 portably resting in sockets formed in the surface of theroadway. Counterweights 31 and 32 are provided for the member 26 andserve to hold it erect under normal. conditions, and also form. bracesto strengthen it against accidental impact.

It will thus be readily apparent as shown in Fig. 3 that the member 26appears to oncoming trailic as a barricade and the ramp structureappears open so that the traffic will be directed to the ramp. However,as shown in 1, after the ramp is aassed and the railroad tracks arecrossed, the vehicle leav ing the tracks must pass over the member 26.The driver merely approaches the member 26 at comparatively slow speedand the front wheels of the vehicle engaging the top of the member 26swing it down about its pivot, as shown in 4, against the action of thecounterweights S1 and 32.

From the foregoing description it will be readily apparent that thesafety arrangen'ients accordlng to the present invention are automaticand fool-proof, and will take care of travel for long periods of timewithout any attention. However, in the case of emergency conditions,when it is necessary to have traffic pass over the highway as quickly aspossible and the passage of trains has been taken care of, the members26 may be removed by pulling the eyes 30 out of their sockets and theemergency traflic may pass around both ramps alt comparatively highspeed. 7

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed in great detail, it will be obvious that the broad idea issusceptible of many modifications and alterations, and therefore thescope of the invention is not limited to the exact details shown anddescribed, but includes such embodiments of the broad idea as comewithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A safety traflic speed control apparatus for highways, comprising incombination, a permanent speed obstruction stationed in one-half of thehighway, and a portable automatic one-way traffic device stationed inthe other half of the highway.

2. A safety traffic speed control apparatus for highways, comprising incombination, a permanent speed obstruction stationed in one-half of thehighway, and a barricade pivoted across the other half of the highway,

said barricade having counterweight struc-.

ture permitting the barricade to swing down to permit traffic to pass inone direction, but causing the barricade to swing up to prevent trafficin the opposite direction.

3. In a highway, a pair of obstructions occupying substantially theentire width of the highway, one of said obstructions being permanent,and provided with an undulating surface over which trafiic may readilypass at proper speed, and the other being portable, permitting anemergency by-pass of the traffic.

4. A safety trafiic speed control apparatus for highways, comprising ahump stationed in the path of the traffic, said hump having channelstherethrough permitting the passage of the wheels of horse-drawntrafiic, but of such depth as to exclude motor vehicle traflic therefromthereby causing its wheels to pass over the hump.

5. In a highway having a Zone in which conditions require slow speedtraffic, a permanent obstruction in the path of the entering traffic,and a one-way obstruction permitting the exit of trafiic leaving saidzone.

6. In a highway having a zone inv which conditions require slow speedtraflic, a permanent obstruction in the path of the entering trafiic,and a one-way obstructionlpermitting the exit of traflio leaving saidzone, said oneway obstruction being portable to permit emergency highspeed entrance and eXit.

7. A safety traflic control device for highways comprising an elongatedobstruction arranged transversely of the path of the traffic forming aneffectual bar to traflic in one direction, said member being pivotallymounted to swing about an axis transverse to the path of travel to aninoperative position under the weight of the traflic to permit suchtrafiic to pass thereover in the opposite direction.

8. A safety trafiic control device for highways comprising an elongatedobstruction arranged transversely of the path of the traffic forming aneffectual bar to traffic in one direction, said member being pivotally'mounted to swing about an axis transverse to the path of travel to aninoperative position under the weight of the traffic to permit suchtraffic to pass thereover in the opposite direction, and means forreturning said obstruction to operative position when the traffic haspassed.

9. A traflio control device comprising a permanent obstruction having asmooth surface curved in the direction of travel, said curved surfacerising above the normal highway surface a distance greater than the road5 clearance of automobiles, and straight channels in said surface,dividing said obstruction into a plurality of portions of width greaterthan the wheel tread of automobiles, whereby automobiles pass over thecurved surface,

but other traffic having difierent wheel tread may straddle the curvedsurface.

10. A highway having two transversely aligned obstructions extendingsubstantially the entire width thereof, one of said obstruc- A GEORGE E.JORDAN.

